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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27721136">Four Younglings</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/w_k_smith/pseuds/w_k_smith'>w_k_smith</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ahsoka was born to be a Cool Aunt, Aunt Ahsoka Tano, Babysitting, Gen, Mostly Fluff, Not Canon Compliant, POV Din Djarin, Takes place between Chapter 11 and Chapter 12, just for fun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:42:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,206</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27721136</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/w_k_smith/pseuds/w_k_smith</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Din Djarin finally tracks down Ahsoka Tano, who he hopes will be the key to contacting the Jedi and bringing the child to safety. The half-retired warrior has plenty of answers. She also has three young charges crowded underfoot.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>127</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Four Younglings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wrote most of this between the airing of Chapter 11 and Chapter 12. So whatever happened/happens past “The Heiress,” ignore it for the purposes of this story. Just pretend Din was able to go straight from Trask to Corvus. Obviously none of the ensuing story was ever going to be close to canon.</p><p>Also: Your daily reminder that the galaxy far, far away is no place for transphobes. Even the bad guys respect others’ gender identities. You can scream “Rebel scum!” and “TRAITOR!” at enemies of any gender, and I think that’s beautiful.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Din Djarin had no expectations of what Ahsoka Tano’s home might look like, so he isn’t surprised by what he finds. The house appears to be made of rough-hewn logs, so it almost blends in with the never-ending forest around it. There are clean windows set into the walls, and the front door has a perfectly up-to-date keypad, so Din suspects the rustic exterior is a mark of aesthetic rather than a lack of technology.</p><p>Din pauses at the front door. The child sits in his hovercradle, so both of Din’s hands are free. He wonders whether he should keep a hand on his blaster. The few Mandalorian songs and stories Din has heard that mentioned the Jedi aren’t promising, and don’t give him any notion of what to expect.</p><p>“Any ideas?” he asks the child.</p><p>The child mumbles, and tilts his head.</p><p>“Me, neither.”</p><p>Din decides not to put his hand on his blaster, as he knocks on the door. He doesn’t know what kind of reaction Ahsoka Tano will have to a Mandalorian on her doorstep, but if she thinks he’s here to fight, she might preemptively attack before he has a chance to explain.</p><p>The door pops open, but there’s no woman. Instead, it’s a human boy, maybe seven or eight, with brown skin and a smile that proudly shows every tooth he has lost.</p><p>“Hi! Who are you? Nice to meet you, I’m Poe Dameron, and I like your armor, and is the baby in the hovercradle yours? Are you its dad? Does it look like you? Do you have big ears, too?”</p><p>Din is speechless. Not because he’s intimidated by small children, even ones that talk this much, but because he’s surprised to find a boy where he expected to meet a mysterious Jedi.</p><p>“Come on, Poe, you know you’re not supposed to answer the door by yourself,” a female voice says, and a muscular togruta woman appears behind Poe Dameron. Her skin is orange, with white markings, her lekku long and striped. She wears a white robe and grey leggings, fairly typical clothing for an adult woman in this part of the galaxy. She appears to be middle aged, by human standards. Din hasn’t known enough togruta to be sure how they mature.</p><p>“Sorry!” Poe says.</p><p>The woman sees the child, and her eyes grow comically wide. Recognition? Fear? A glance at Din gives her a stony expression, though, and she steps firmly in front of Poe.</p><p>“Can I help you, bounty hunter?” she asks. She keeps her eyes on Din’s hands, not his helmet. She’s watching to see if he’ll try to draw. A cylindrical hilt hangs from each of her hips. They’re certainly weapons – lightsabers? Din’s knowledge of lightsabers is vague, but the concept isn’t hard to grasp.</p><p>“I’m here to see Ahsoka Tano,” Din says.</p><p>“Why?” the woman asks.</p><p>“Bo-Katan sent me.”</p><p>At Bo-Katan’s name, the woman gives a little smile. But it’s grim.</p><p>Din continues. “She said you could help me. I’m not here on Guild or Mandalorian business. I’m looking for the Jedi. I think this child is one of them, and I mean to bring him to his people.”</p><p>Her posture relaxes. “Then you’ve found Ahsoka Tano,” she says. “Come in. Watch out, though – there’s three little boys running around in here. Please don’t step on any of them.”</p><p>The door leads right into the common area. The entire back wall of the house is made of glass, giving the impression that the building is laid open to the forest. Three children are there, playing with a pile of toy spaceships. Poe Dameron waves an X-wing, making a passable impression of cannon fire. Another human child, barely more than a toddler, sits on the lacquered floor, clutching a Star Destroyer that’s too big for his hands.</p><p>Din stops when he sees what the oldest is doing. He’s humanoid, but his eyes and hair are bright green, and his skin has an uneven green cast. He’s on his knees, and he’s not holding anything, but his fingers move in the air like he’s controlling puppets. An armada of ships swoops between him and the smallest kid.</p><p>“Here come the Defenders! And they’re getting support from the Imperial Star Destroyer. Eek eek!” A TIE fighter nudges the little one’s face. “Oh, no!” the kid with green hair cries. “They got Ben’s nose!”</p><p>The youngest, who must be Ben, laughs and reaches for the TIE fighter. The oldest draws it just out of his reach, then brings it back, then pulls it away again. “Jacen!” Ben says in delighted protest.</p><p>The child bounces in the hovercradle, and gives Din a pleading look.</p><p>“You can play later,” Din tells him. “We have to get some answers first.”</p><p>The three boys turn to stare at Din. The toys drift to the ground.</p><p>Poe runs up to Ahsoka. He holds the X-wing with both hands. “Are these your friends, Ahsoka? What are their names? Do you know them from the Rebellion? Will you guys play Rogue Squadron with us? It’s my favorite game, because I’m going to be a fighter pilot when I grow up. Why is he wearing armor in the house? My mom doesn’t let us wear <em>shoes</em> in the house.”</p><p>“He’s wearing armor because he’s <em>Mandalorian</em>,” Jacen says. “Armor is <em>really</em> important to them.”</p><p>“These are some new friends,” Ahsoka says. “This is…” She gives Din a questioning glance.</p><p>“Din,” he says, after a short hesitation. He’s given this woman enough trust already that she can hear his name.</p><p>“Din thinks his buddy might be Force-sensitive.”</p><p>It’s not a phrase he’s familiar with. “What is that?” he asks.</p><p>Poe stands next to the hovercradle, nose to nose with the child. Poe shows him the X-wing. The child raises a hand, and the X-wing lifts out of Poe’s grasp to make a lazy circle around the child’s head. Poe is unfazed, and runs back to pile of toys to get another model X-wing.</p><p>“It’s <em>that</em>,” Ahsoka says to Din. “Why don’t you come sit with me so we can talk?”</p><p>The next room is a kitchen, with a long wooden table flanked by benches instead of chairs. The smell of a recent meal – some kind of stew or broth – lingers in the air. Din sits at the table across from Ahsoka. The hovercradle stops at the head of the table. The child reaches for a bowl of fruit sitting nearby. Ahsoka slides it to him after getting an approving nod from Din. Soon, the child is munching on something round and blue, the X-wing held in his free hand.</p><p>“You look like someone I used to know,” Ahsoka says to the child, quietly, somewhat sadly, more to herself than anyone else in the room. “Yeah, you’re just a…tiny Yoda, aren’t you?”</p><p>The boys crowd in with them. Jacen stands next to Ahsoka. Poe strikes up a one-sided conversation with the child about starfighters, and how they go through hyperspace, and how there weren’t many places to land on Corvus because of all the trees, and –</p><p>Ben stops at Din’s knee. He gives Din that deadly serious, suspicious look shy toddlers give strangers. Din’s used to seeing such an intense expression on Outer Rim mercenaries who think they’re about to be ripped off or shot. It’s borderline absurd to see it on a four-year-old.</p><p>“Hello,” Din says.</p><p>The boy tugs on Poe’s sleeve. Poe bends down, and the boy whispers in his ear.</p><p>“Ben wants to know the baby’s name,” Poe announces.</p><p>“He doesn’t have one,” Din says.</p><p>“Why not?” Jacen asks.</p><p>“Because he doesn’t.”</p><p>“Do you guys want to play outside while we talk about some Jedi stuff?” Ahsoka asks.</p><p>“Yeah!” Poe says. “Can he play with us?” He points at the child. The child waves his arms, clearly liking the idea. The fruit has disappeared, and his mouth is stained lightly blue.</p><p>“If his Dad says OK,” Ahsoka says.</p><p>“That’s fine…” Din says slowly.</p><p>“<em>But</em>,” Ahsoka interrupts, “he’s a <em>lot</em> smaller than you, so what do you think you should do?”</p><p>“Be extra nice?” Poe suggests.</p><p>“Be gentle,” Jacen says. Ben nods in agreement with both of them.</p><p>“I like the way you think, boys. Stay where you can see me.”</p><p>Poe helps the child get to the ground. The child scurries after Poe and Ben, who go into the backyard through an almost invisible sliding door set into the glass wall. Jacen turns to follow, but Ahsoka stops him with a hand on his arm.</p><p>“And Jacen?” she prompts.</p><p>“I’m the oldest, so I have the most responsibility,” he says, in a tone that suggests he has said it many times. “But that means I’m secretly in charge.”</p><p>“That’s right. Join your men, Commander Syndulla.”</p><p>Jacen runs after the other boys.</p><p>“Are they all yours?” Din asks.</p><p>Ahsoka laughs. “None of them. They’re nephews, I guess you could say.”</p><p>“Where are their families?”</p><p>“At a very long and very dull treaty negotiation. It’s fine, I like babysitting. The upside of being legally dead is that you don’t have to go to the boring meetings, but people still invite you to the fun stuff. Besides…” She nods at the window. “It’s usually a good idea to leave a bunch of Jedi kids with someone experienced.”</p><p>Din looks to see all four of the children crouched in the grass together. Ben’s arms are raised, and the Star Destroyer bobs a couple feet above his head. Jacen looks like he’s giving gentle encouragement, and Poe is egging Ben on.</p><p>The X-wing zips out of the child’s hand, and knocks into the Star Destroyer. Both toys fall to the ground in a dramatic spiral. Poe and Ben are so amused that they collapse backwards laughing. The child’s ears wiggle, and Din knows the exact gurgling sound he’s making.</p><p>“All of them?” he asks.</p><p>“Not Poe. With his sheer force of personality, it would be redundant,” Ahsoka says.</p><p>Din feels…pride. Whatever it is these Jedi call what they do, the child can do it well. He isn’t exhausted this time, which means he’s getting better or learning to pace himself. That has to be a good sign.</p><p>“Is it dangerous?” he asks Ahsoka.</p><p>She looks sad. “No, except that it’s one more exasperating way kids will break things and hurt themselves the second your back is turned. But – one of the Empire’s first acts was to wipe the Jedi out. The children…were no exception.” She rests her chin on her hand, and stares out the window at her charges. Poe is running in quick circles around a nearby tree, X-wing held aloft. Jacen is playing the keep-away game with Ben and the child, looping the Star Destroyer between them, and occasionally letting one of them grab it.</p><p>“You want to know if we can protect your son from what you don’t understand,” Ahsoka says at last. “I wish I could promise you we could. But we’re only just crawling back from annihilation.”</p><p>He nods. “Can you at least…explain?”</p><p>“Sure. It’s a long conversation, though, so you’re definitely staying for dinner. How <em>did</em> you come by the child?” Ahsoka asks, turning away from the window.</p><p>Din tells her the story as best as he can. “I’m his father and guardian until I find his parents or he comes of age,” he explains at the end. “In Mandalorian culture –”</p><p>“<em>Aliit ori’shya tal’din</em>,” Ahsoka says.</p><p>Yet another surprise. “You speak Mando’a?”</p><p>“I’ve known a few Mandalorians. And I fought in the Clone Wars.” He doesn’t know how that answers his question. Perhaps sensing that, she elaborates. “The template for the clones was a Mandalorian bounty hunter. He taught them the language, and some of the culture, before he died, and it kept getting passed on through the generations of soldiers. So I know a lot of swear words and marching songs. I’ve always liked the phrase – ‘family is more than blood.’ When I was trained, the Jedi had no blood family. We were foundlings and orphans who looked out for other foundlings and orphans.” She clears her throat. “I don’t know if I can give you what you’re looking for, but you can consider the Jedi Order an ally.” She gives him a tentative smile. “You can consider <em>me</em> an ally, anyway.”</p><p>“Ahsoka! Ahsoka!” comes Poe’s shout.</p><p>All four children have moved out of sight. Din and Ahsoka run to the window, and Ahsoka shoves open the door. Din’s expecting some disaster to have fallen since he and Ahsoka looked away.</p><p>But he’s wrong. Jacen has set Ben on his shoulders. The child is sitting on the top of Ben’s head, clinging to Ben’s hair.</p><p>"Ta-da!” Poe gestures grandly. “Together, they’re a whole grown-up Jedi!”</p><p>Jacen and Ben look pleased with themselves. The child looks at Din and gurgles for approval.</p><p>“Can we hold your lightsabers, Aunt Ahsoka?” Jacen calls.</p><p>“That <em>would</em> be kind of cute. Is it wrong that I’m tempted to let them?” Ahsoka asks so only Din can hear.</p><p>And Din recognizes that there’s still very much he doesn’t understand about the people he has found here, but he still feels confident enough to tell her: “Yes.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And that is how Jacen Syndulla, Ben Solo, and Baby Yoda became the first Jedi Knight that was secretly three younglings stacked in a trench coat.</p><p>Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a comment, and I'll reply. I just love to talk Star Wars, y'know?</p></blockquote></div></div>
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